Maggie Thom's Blog - Posts Tagged "deceitful-truths"

It doesn’t matter how much reading you do, how much planning, how much learning you do, until you put the wheels in motion you really have no idea what is going to work and what isn’t. And you really don’t understand what everything means until you are using it in the way it is intended. This is so true for being a published author. The biggest thing I’ve learned is that there is no one rule that fits everyone. Each person who is published or who publishes themselves will find the journey different. There are so many avenues available nowadays to get published that want-to-be authors really have to do their homework as to what works for them.

Here are ten (although I could make this list closer to thirty) things I didn’t know about being a published author:

1. That writing the book was the easy part. Who knew?

2. That once you are published the real work begins. I had to come up with a plan for what I wanted to do with my book. How was I going to market it? Where was I going to find my readers?

3. That formatting is a lot of work and it is very different if you are doing a paperback book versus an ebook. And then each type of ebook, depending on the company, requires a different layout to be done for their specific company.

4. That asking for help was easier than I thought and there is a huge community of authors willing to share.

5. That not everything has to be perfect, that although I read and learned and asked questions, until I was actually published, that’s when I really understood what it all meant. I have accepted that I will learn as I go.

6. That I would have to find that balance of marketing, networking, doing events, writing and having a life outside of my published one. It was really easy to get pulled in to feeling like I had to be everywhere at once. It’s important to choose a few things and make those work for you.

7. That to market my book effectively, I should have started marketing it several months before it was published.

8. That when I started to find my readers, the ones who love my book, that they would...

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Wine, the nectar of the gods. Or so I'm told. It is something that has been enjoyed for many centuries, that's for sure but beyond that I don't know much about wine. I know they make it from grapes. And sometimes other fruits. It gets bottled up or in some cases boxed up and shipped out so that we can enjoy it with our meals, when we want to celebrate, after a long day at the office, after a stressful day, when we have company, well, really whenever we darn well please.

Other than that I don't know much about wine. What I do know could probably be poured into a thimble. I know what I like and what I don't but I never really remember much else. To tell you that it's a Cabernet Sauvignon made by so and so, I usually don't pay attention too much to that. Gasp! I know. I can tell you if it's red, white, rose or white zinfandel and then if it's sweet or dry but that's it. I'm getting better at remembering the names of those that I enjoy.

For my latest book, Deceitful Truths, it is a companion book or sequel (still figuring that out) to Captured Lies. Both are based around a winery in Ontario. Now why I chose a winery I have no idea. Why I chose Ontario, I have no idea. What I do know is that I'm glad I know people there, who know people there, who know people there... or I'll just have to ask strangers for some answers.

As I mentioned I like wine but I only drink it once in a while. I've done the wine tour thing, a couple of times. I've hung out with people who are wine connoisseurs. And I've tried different wines. And do you think I can remember anything about all of the wine process, the types, what to pair it with? Nope. I have to read. And then read again. Not sure why it won't stick but...
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I have to say I've been writing my whole life but up until about a year ago, that's really all I was doing was writing, really for myself. I mean I did submit some stories to contests, a few novels to traditional publishers but for the most part I just wrote. There was no real sense of urgency, no worry about getting the story done. I'd write when I had free time, more often than not that was with pen to paper because usually I was out chasing or er, driving my kids around to activities and sports. So then I'd have to type up what I'd written. It tended to take quite a bit of time. No big deal because then it also took quite a bit of time to get up the nerve to do the homework and then to send out a query letter to a publisher.

There weren't really any timelines or deadlines. Well now that I'm published that has all changed.

I have self-imposed deadlines. Mainly because I do love writing and the ideas are coming but also because my fans are asking when is the next book coming out. Guess what? Now, I find it difficult to write. Okay that's not true, it's not difficult to write it's difficult to sit my butt in the chair and write my story. With Deceitful Truths it took a few months of next to no writing on it, before...
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I am sad but don't get teary-eyed on me, it's just that my printer has died. And it's only seven. I guess that's pretty old in the printer world, a hundred or so, maybe? I really can't complain it has printed, I'm sure, at least ten thousand or more pages. Mostly manuscripts, short stories, ideas that I'd run off and take with me to read over, rewrite and edit. Then I'd type all that new stuff in and then print it again. It worked great because every time I had to sit and wait for my kids to finish an activity or a practice for sports - of course I watched, between paragraphs or pages, it depended, sometimes maybe even chapters - I'd be able to have something to do. I also ran a business a few years ago, empowering women to step into their dream, so I printed off many pictures, manuals, training plans, radio show outlines, presentations and so much more.

And for the last year it has been my true companion in helping me get my two novels, Captured Lies and Tainted Waters, edited, rewritten, completed and finally published. I had also used it to make bookmarks, pictures and many other items to help advertise my two books. Sadly though, now that I am at the point of rewriting and editing my third novel, Deceitful Truths, it just didn't have in it to print it for me so that I could have a hard copy to read. I've discovered that I still like to print off my manuscripts and go through and make changes on the paper. I do lots on the computer but I find it helps me to see and read my book differently. Not sure why...

Anyway my printer, a Canon, which I truly loved and felt it was an amazing printer has gone to printer heaven. Well actually the recycling bin is where it will be heading to... but don't tell it that...
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"Read enough, that you want for nothing." Maggie Thom

This quote "Read enough that you want for nothing" came to me earlier this week and really got me thinking ( a good thing I assure you), 'what do we want from reading?'

There are so many reasons for reading and each person has their own personal ones but it really dawned on me that, okay I'm going to take a leap here, that everyone reads to be taken somewhere else. To be suspended in time so that the physical world really has no meaning and really doesn't exist for that period of time, whatever it might be.

We read to fill ourselves up - with knowledge, with understanding, with emotion, with connection, with love, with answers, with questions, with joy, with excitement... We read so that we can experience whatever it is that we need to or want to in that moment. Reading really fills a lot of holes and allows us to experience whatever our heart and/or mind desires. We can pretend being rich and famous, lost and alone, on an exotic island, in the mind of a psychopath, in the throws of love, struggling with life, on top of the world... we can read to immerse ourselves in every feeling, every journey that there is.

Reading has always been a go to for me. When I was young and couldn't be outside...
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I wanted to introduce you to my latest novel, Deceitful Truths, that I am hoping to have published by December 2013. This novel is kind of a sequel to Captured Lies. I say kind of because there is some follow up from Captured Lies but there is a whole new story as well. Also you can read this novel on it’s own without having read Captured Lies and still understand what is going on. Reading Captured Lies first would enhance reading Deceitful Truths but is not necessary. So without further adieu, here is the basis of what Deceitful Truths is about.

Deceitful Truths

Synopsis

He created a legacy that no one could imagine…

Tarin has lost a week of her life. She doesn’t know what happened but not long after she returns to work she is suspended from her job. Confused and pregnant, she quits her job and agrees to marry Stephen, only to be thrown into a whole new nightmare. Desperate, she grabs her son and moves far, to get away from her abusive husband. Finding a job with Knight’s Associates as their assistant, half way across the country helps her to feel safer and more secure. Thrilled at getting the job, not only because she will be able to help them solve cyber crimes but because she can use their resources to find her own answers, specifically, who tried to destroy her life.

Graham, who owns Knight’s Associates along with Guy, finds himself swamped. As Guy is...
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Chapter One

She opened her eyes. Or at least she thought she had. That was her intention. But everything was black. Maybe it was still dark out. She tried again. This time there was a fuzzy blur… a shadow… a stray bit of light… and a voice. But as quick as it all came, it left.

Sometime later she became aware of sounds and sensations. Everything was still dark. She had no sense of who she was or where she was. There was a sensation of being but not of knowing anything else. It was just blank. Something brushed over her body; it was light, delicate really but something she had no real idea as to what it was or where it was coming from. She recoiled inside, pulling back, trying to shrink more into the deep, dark hole that seemed to be her companion. Fear was like a living, breathing monster wrapping her in its cloak; capturing her in a web she felt helpless to get out of.

A very distant part of her brain screamed at her, to get the hell away… to move… to do something… but it was so far away, so faint. She could feel the desperation but could barely grasp what it was telling her to do… or why. She tried to wade through the enveloping darkness to reach it. But she couldn’t move. She was trapped in a tiny black cave with nowhere to go… nowhere to hide… with nothing to see. The panic which had been so remote a moment ago was suddenly all there was. The harder she fought it, the more she fell down the dark well. She had no sensation of self, no meaning of who she was. There was heaviness but she didn’t know anything beyond the little gloomy hole that she seemed to inhabit.

She made a sound. Or at least she thought it came from her but when she couldn’t repeat it, she wasn’t sure. Something moved, maybe even touched her. She couldn’t be certain. There was a tiny sense of pain but then it receded, taking the anxiousness with it… and then there was nothing.
Sounds filtered into her little world.

“Now… do it.”

“She’s…”

Only snippets of their words drifted into her consciousness. She wanted to ask what the two men were talking about. Who they were talking about? And where was she? Who she was?

She felt a gentle breeze waft over her, a strange sensation like it wasn’t happening to her. She wanted to call out but remembered that the last time she’d made a sound or tried to, everything had disappeared. This time she kept quiet. She waited. Slowly more things started to come to her.

She was laying spread eagled on a bed. At least that was her assumption as it was something soft and cushiony, anyway and she felt exposed. Cool air brushed over her skin...
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Hi. I'm doing a cover reveal today for Deceitful Truths, organized by Girls Heart Book Tours.



Blurb-
He created a legacy that no one could imagine...
Tarin has lost a week of her life. She doesn't know what happened but not long after she returns to work she is suspended from her job. Confused and pregnant, she quits and agrees to marry Stephen, only to be thrown into a whole new nightmare. Desperate, she grabs her son and moves across the country to get away from her abusive husband and to avoid her unforgiving father. Thrilled at getting the job at Knights Associates, where she'll help them solve cyber crimes but also be able to use their connections and resources to find her own answers. Who stole a week of her life? And will they return to steal the secret she is now protecting?
Graham and his partner Guy, can't keep up with the demand. They are being flooded with requests at Knights Associates, where they offer a combined service of private investigator and that of solving cyber crimes. It appears that someone wants to get their attention as not only have they been hacked but Guy's family business, Caspian Winery, seems to be under attack as well. Hiring an assistant seems to be the answer but when Graham discovers she's been accessing their high-security accounts, he realizes the cause of their predicament might be closer then he thought. Is there new assistant behind the problems they're having? If she's so innocent why does someone want to abduct her?
Tarin and Graham discover that although they don't trust each other, they are forced to work together to solve several seemingly unrelated crimes that may lead to one disastrous conclusion. Can they figure it all out before Tarin's nightmare plays out? An eighty year old woman pays with her life? Or before Tarin learns a truth that may seal her fate and be the one secret that will keep her and Graham apart as neither one of them may be able to forgive or forget...
(Standalone but is a Sequel/Companion Novel to Captured Lies)

What do you think of the cover?
Originally posted here: http://wp.me/p2ydBl-MU

When we put something out for the first time, we are so concerned with it being just right. With everything being as it should be. The way we've been taught... trained... We are so concerned about what others think. Yet when we were children it was okay to just try, it didn't matter the outcome. It didn't matter what others thought because more often than not we would be encouraged. It was that we were doing it and it would get better with time. Or at least I think that's what the hope was.

So now the question is, what is perfect? Everyone has a different definition of what this means. And to be honest it can become an excuse not to move forward. I know because I used it a lot. I mean my stuff couldn't be perfect... because I can't write like authors like Sandra Brown, Robert Ludlum... because others were giving me suggestions of what they thought should be in there... just because... So to translate, that meant something had to be wrong with it... it couldn't be worthy of others.

There is no such thing as perfect. I know I've read books by authors I love and sometimes they get it right and sometimes they don't, at least for me. Yet someone else will love what they've put out there. The point is that they didn't wait for perfect, they published it.


Perfect is a myth. There is a point where I had a decision to make, take the leap or keep wishing and wanting. To get really good at something, we have to step into it... try it... learn it... grow with it. Because we learn by doing, not by thinking about something but by actually doing it. We really have no idea until we get into something what it's really about or how it will be received.

Here's what I've learned: I love what I'm doing; what I write isn't for everyone; I do put in a lot of time to make sure that what I write makes sense, flows, doesn't have plot holes... but here's the kicker... none of it's perfect. It sure isn't in my eyes, anyway. Every time I open one of my stories, Captured Lies, Tainted Waters, Deceitful Truths or any of the new ones I'm writing, I always think or see a better way of telling it. But at some point I had to stop doing that and decide that it was good, that it was okay to put it out there

In fact, don't tell anyone but I really like my stories. There are things that I would and do differently each time I write but I actually quite enjoy creating them and reading them. Because I read a lot and because I put a lot of time into planning out and plotting my stories, I know I've put my best effort into them. And if I like reading them, I'm sure there has to be at least one other person who does. :) Thankfully, I have found many who really love what I write.

So for anyone who is thinking of starting a new adventure in life, want to follow your dreams, jump into it - just make sure its for the right reasons and for you. I know when I leapt into publishing Captured Lies, I had no clue what I was doing or getting into. I know that if I'd waited any longer for things to be perfect I'd never have done it. And believe me that took a long time to get there but I now wouldn't have two well-received published novels with a third one out soon.

My advice... leap. You never know what's on the other side until you try it. While there truly is no such thing as perfect... you will grow into better.

An aside: a good example of perfect, as I'm writing I put leapt which wordpress didn't like so I had to look it up. I was worried that I had forgotten how to spell and wondering if that really was a word. Yes it's a word and yes it's spelled correctly. The English language continues to change (and baffle me) and with all the different countries claiming ownership as to what's correct and not, there is no way you'll get it right for everyone. :) So do it for you.

Original Post: http://wp.me/p2ydBl-yy

8 days to publication of Deceitful Truths...